Quote:
Originally Posted by TestDrive
That's tempting but perhaps unwarranted conclusion.
They don't all cross the road at 90* and some small percentage of those racing across the road notice your headlights and make sharp adjustment to their line of travel.
Also, one may be highly attentive to the road ahead and yet simply traveling faster (45 mph) than is safe for conditions (a herd of 15-20 deer wandering aimlessly across the roadway just at the far side of the sharp crest of a small hill). I've never hit a deer under those circumstances, but the opportunity has presented itself.
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Around here, I've never seen deer run along the road, either on the pavement or the shoulder. They are always either crossing it or having a social interaction with other deer or or next to the road. As soon as they see the car they head straight towards the nearest woods. One fall I came across two bucks getting ready to fight over a doe. The doe and one buck were on one side of the road, while the other buck was on his way across the road to pick a fight. All three scattered when I drove up. The problem comes when they are in a field with the woods on the other side of the road and your car surprises them. They then make a bee line for the woods, crossing the road at full gallop. I've never seen a deer make a sharp change in direction while on pavement, as their hooves just don't have the traction to do this. I've seen numbers of startled deer skittering their hooves on the asphalt (sort of like running in place) while trying to accelerate from a standstill or a slow walk when your car appears on the scene.
Of course if you are traveling and going around corners faster than is safe for conditions, then you are asking for an accident, be it from deer or from that windfall tree that laying across the road just past the blind curve. The same goes for overrunning your headlight coverage at night.